According to the World Health Organization, the spectrum of this influenza A H1N1 virus ranges from a non-febrile, mild upper respiratory tract illness to severe or fatal pneumonia. Some hospitalized patients have experienced rapidly progressive, serious lower respiratory tract disease.
Other well-recognized influenza complications in those seriously ill with this variant of swine flu include secondary bacterial infections, myocarditis, and worsening of other conditions related to pre-existing illnesses.
Pregnant Women at Risk
Pregnant women were known to be at increased risk of complications from seasonal, avian H5N1 and previous pandemic influenza infections. Several hospitalizations, including fatal outcomes, have been reported in pregnant women infected with the new H1N1 virus.
Consequently, WHO recommends closer observation of pregnant women with suspected or confirmed new influenza A (H1N1) infections. Guidelines are available from WHO for treatment of pregnant women with swine flu, including careful evaluation before administering antiviral medicines and being knowledgeable of all the possible benefits and risks.
Monitoring Pregnant Women
Primary care givers should warn pregnant women and their family members that if the mother-to-be exhibits such conditions as difficulty in breathing, chest pain, coughing up colored sputum, or confusion, then this pregnant woman should immediately be hospitalized. Most at risk are pregnant mothers with asthma, any cardiovascular disease, obesity and diabetes.
Precautions for Pregnant Women
Pregnant women should wash their hands frequently, stay away from events with crowds and, if possible, not use mass transit (subways, buses, airplanes) and not place themselves in other crowded environments, such as elevators, where several people are in close contact with others.
Most current cases of this virus in the United States are in the more densely populated New York City and Boston metropolitan regions, where another causal factor may be a colder-than-usual spring in the U. S. Northeast.
Health Care Workers Being Infected
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has discovered a worrying pattern: healthcare workers are being infected, and most reported they did little or nothing to protect themselves.
People coming into emergency departments or clinics need to be checked right away for flu symptoms and anyone working with such a patient needs to wear a mask, gloves and eyewear, the CDC's Dr. Mike Bell said, so that doctors, nurses and technicians who have flu don’t spread it to vulnerable patients and each other.
(Related articles answer common questions about the current swine flu epidemic, give resources for dealing with it and tell of the history of similar pandemics.)
SOURCES: The World Health Organization
and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
